An Eagle's Tale
by Nalana
Summary: A Brother Bear Story. With his mother sick, his father dead,and two younger brothers, Sitka had to grow up faster than he wished. This is his and his brothers' story. Takes place around eight years before the movie.


Disclaimer: I don't own the recognizable characters, they belong to Disney, as much as I hate to admit it. I do claim names to the rest in the tribe, and any place I may mention. Most respectively, the character who's current name is Cueha (Coo-E-ha) is mine, and I would very much appreciate it if you would ask me before using her the most as well as her family. Thank you :)  
  
Name: An Eagle's Tale Author: Nalana_Spinder_Of_Souls Description: With his mother sick, his father dead,and two younger brothers, Sitka had to grow up faster than he wished. This is his and his brother's story. Takes place around eight years before the movie.  
  
~*~  
  
"Denahiiiii!" A young boy of around nine growled at his older brother, who was waving the younger's knife in the air. "Give it BACK!" He jumped after it to no avail.  
  
"Oh come on, Kenai! You can do better than that!" The older laughed and danced around him, teasing the boy who hadn't yet hit a growth spur.  
  
"BOTH of you, knock it off! Denahi, give him back his knife. Sharpen those stones like I told you to!" The eldest of the three there seemed to pop out of no where, hands at his sides rather angered.  
  
"Oh come ON Sitka! Just because you have your totem doesn't mean you can boss us around! Can't we have a brake?" Denahi, who was four years older than Kenai, groaned. "There are so many other things we could be doing!  
  
"Okay." Sitka said casually. The other two jumped up for joy, almost  
dancing. That is, until their brother continued, "IF you don't want  
deer, bear, or mammoth this winter at all.. and Tanana says it's going  
to be quite long..."  
  
Kenai slumped back down, grumbling something about the old Shaman, but continued whittling the long piece of wood that would become part of a spear. He hated chores! Why was he stuck here doing this while the women could do it! He could be out playing, or hunting! Yea, that was it, help his brother! Do something a man would do!  
  
"Because, my son," a slightly frail women in a shawl to keep the autumn wind off of her stepped out of the house the family shared, and placed a hand on the youngest shoulder. She seemed to read his thoughts, "If you don't make your own weapon, how can you respect it?"  
  
"Well what about him!" Denahi pointed to Sitka, "I don't see him braking his back or sitting out in this sun!" He protested from his spot on the grass.  
  
Sitka ignored his brother's complaint, and went over to his mother. "What are you doing out here? Mother, you should be resting!" His brows knotted in concern for the woman.  
  
Last winter, when the great sickness had hit the tribe, the family had been hit. The curse had taken the spirits of their grandparents. Their mother had barely made it through, and never really fully recovered. And with their father being gone not but a few years, it was Sitka's greatest worry to loose the one elder family member he had left.  
  
"You worry too much, son!" His mother gave him a comforting smile. "I need a little fresh air...ooh.." She groaned a bit as she sat by her youngest son on the yellowing grass, eyeing his work before looking back up to the other. "But, where have you been these past hours.. you left little after the sun rose, and it hangs directly above us now.."  
  
Sitka bit his lip, "I went to tell the hunting party I'm going with them." There were three different parties that went right before the frost came to hunt game for the winter. However, most parties were gone for at the least a week or two.  
  
"WHAT? Your leaving?" Denahi jumped up, "wooo hoo!! This means I'M in charge!" A grin spread across his face. He rustled Kenai's hair, "You have to do anything I say! Ha!"  
  
Kenai frowned, and grabbed a spear head, quickly tying it on the end of his half-carved stick, so that it dangled. "I'm going with you!" He ran to Sitka, a stern look on his face.  
  
"Maybe when your older, Kenai!" Sitka chuckled, glaring over to his other brother. "And as for YOU. Your going to listen to everything mother says. And you NOT going to kill Kenai while I'm gone! AND, the same goes for you to Denahi, got that Kenai?" He finished before the youngest could get ideas.  
  
"Yea yea I...OOOOF!" Denahi started in once again but had the wind knocked out of him from...something.  
  
"DEEEENAHIIIIIIIIII!!!" A small voice squealed, throwing little arms around him before skipping away and grabbing Kenai's hand and pulling him over. A girl, a few years younger than Kenai, was the owner of the squeal.  
  
"Ushca!" A women's voice came from close behind. As she stepped out of the forest she groaned exasperated. "Oh Ushca! WHEN will you grow up just a little bit?!" Behind her a rather booming voice laughed deeply.  
  
"Oh leave her alone Cueha! She's just little!" A tall man, thin, but powerful came behind her.  
  
"Oh, YOU can speak, Ranino! YOUR the one who feeds her syrup than has ME put her to bed! THAN you leave, and will she listen to me? No!"  
  
"She's your cousin, Cueha!" The man pointed out.  
  
"She's YOUR sister!" Cueha snapped before walking over to the boy's mother. "Hello, Elena! How are you feeling?" he manner changed completely.  
  
"Oh fine, dear!" the elder women chuckled at the scene. "Oh! What's this?" The older women took the basket Cueha had been carrying.  
  
"Oh! Aunt Lanne and I made it. It's that fish that Se..." She stopped looking down, biting her lip to stop her sentence.  
  
"That Senei liked?" The old women spoke softly of her husband's name. "That's alright, dear. You can say his name.. I think that he would be down right offended if his name wasn't associated with his favorite meal!"  
  
As Denahi and Kenai kept little Uscha at bay, and the young women and the older woman talked, Ranino made his way over to Sitka who was watching them. Observing the younger, broader built man, he nodded for a moment. A soft smile came over his face, Sitka turned to him in question.  
  
"You know.. you remind me of myself after my father died... Always so worried and serious about things, almost trying to take his place... It feels like your being tested every minute." he answered the glance.  
  
"Well, we are, aren't we? I mean look at them.. They need us. I don't know if I should go on that hunt. I mean..when I come back, this place is going to be in shambles, and what if something.."  
  
"Relax, relax..." Ranino laughed, "They'll be fine, I assure you! I thought the same way when I left Grandfather, Mother, Cueha, and Ushca last year. But, look, they're fine... and if three girls and a elderly man can make it, I'm sure your brothers will be alright! Besides, I'll have Mother and Cueha stop in once in a while if it helps.."  
  
"HEY! I heard that!" The young women had heard her cousin and came over to lightly smack him in the head. "I'll have you know that it was quite peaceful when you left!And we were just fine!"  
  
Sitka laughed deeply at the two. "You remind me of Kenai and Denahi... you really do....Woah woah!!!" He put his hands up in defence as he was half glared at by Cueha."Ok! Ok! I didn't mean it.."  
  
"Watch out.. " Ranino leaned over to whisper, "She bites.." This set him off into another set of laughter.  
  
Growling at her cousin, she threw her arms up in the air and turned wide- eyed to the younger "children" who seemed to be in a wrestling match, Ushca wining "Eiie!!" She squealed and ran over, picking the little girl up off, who was kicking in protest. Soon the girl was kicked in the stomach and found herself on the ground being tickled to death. "Ahh!! NOOO!"  
  
Before anyone knew it, all but Elena was on the ground against one person or another. The women laughed from the heart. The two eldest boys may be grown, and Cueha almost, but they were all children at heart, and for a moment, Sitka's face had shown like it had before his father had gone. For that alone, her heart felt good.  
  
"Ok.. Ok.. we have... to stop!" Cueha coughed, out of breath before standing, and brushing the dust off from herself. "I say that We lay this fish out here, I go get some greens from the shead and we eat." She said matter of factly.  
  
Ushca jumped up," I'll go with you!" She hummed, and ran over to where she had dropped her empty basket before she had tackled her 'prey'.  
  
~*~  
  
That night as Sitka sat on his skins, he was sleepless, staring up at the ceiling. The little picnic with the neighbors had left him feeling relaxed, but something turned at the bottom of his gut. Tomorrow he would be off, and not matter what Ranino had said, he was still was still afraid.  
  
You'll keep them safe, won't you Sitka. They're so young. They need you, my son."  
  
"Of corse father!... father?" voices echoed through his head from the last night his father was among them. A little boy kneeled by the fragile body that was but a shadow of a one strong man flashed before his eyes. A boy standing tall beside a tall fire, stared into the flames. I won't let you down, father. I promise.  
  
"I promise." he whispered to the night air that had grown cold. Those  
were his last words before he fell into slumber.  
  
~*~  
  
Kenai had waken up before the sun had dawned to see his eldest brother's shadow moving silently out the door, and make his way to the center of the village. The family lived slightly in the forest just outside of the village itself, and walking through those woods with little to no light without being heard by his brother was quite a trick to pull off. But soon, as gold started to kiss the chilly ground, he was at the edge of the village.  
  
Once at the center, he looked around as he saw other emerging from their shelters. Among them was the man that had visited them last night followed by his cousin, the shaman Tanana's grandson, and a few of the older men. He stood proud, his fixed spear in hand, intending fully on going with him. It was his chance to prove himself!  
  
"Hey, Sitka! I think you have a tag along!" One of the men chuckled, and nodded behind him.  
  
"Huh? Kenai! What are you doing here?" his brother insisted.  
  
"I'm told you, Sitka! I'm coming with you! I know you don't think I"m old enough.. but.."  
  
"Kenai..."His brother's voice turned soft as he kneeled down, placing his hand on his brother's shoulder. "I NEED you here... Denahi and mother need you. With out me, I need someone I can trust around there!" He smiled at him.  
  
"Cueha can stay with them! She offered!" He frowned.  
  
"And she will check on you, but Kenai. she has a little girl, aunt, and grandfather to look after! even if she was there ever day, I still need someone really THERE. Please, Kenai. I know you want to help, but this is the best way you can help! Stay."  
  
Kenai bit his lip and threw his arms around his brother. "Sitka...what if... what if you don't come back? What... What if a saber gets you like it got father!"  
  
Sitka wrapped his arms around his little brother. "Kenai. I will come back to you. I promise."  
  
"How can you promise something like that?!" Kenai sniffled, trying to be big and not cry.  
  
"Because I'll be there to watch his back." Ranino stepped forward, and ruffled the hair on the young one's head. "And don't worry, I'll keep him in his place..." He winked, making Kenai chuckle a bit.  
  
"Can I just walk with you to the river?" Kenai begged. His brother agreed, and went to the others.  
  
The party and a few relatives made their way to the river where the canoes were already prepared. Sitka and Ranino's party would be going down, to the east. The other would be going up river to the west. The third part would be crossing and going North.  
  
Cueha approached Sitka as he went to get into the boat, and hugged him, throwing him off guard. Reluctantly her returned the gesture before leaning back to look at her worried face.  
  
"Please, please, do be careful out there... and try to watch Ranino for me... I know it's not for long, but.. There are so many things that could go wrong out there!" She whispered so that Kenai wouldn't hear her.  
  
"I know.. and I'll keep him safe. Don't worry.. your starting to sound like me!" He winked, than smiled softly, " Before you know it, we'll be back, with all we can carry for meat! Than you can listen to Ranino brag about how he brought down the biggest deer in the whole east while Ushca fights over my brothers' attention!"  
  
Cueha laughed, "Your right.. now, be off so I don't have to look at your face any more!" She joked with him, stepping back as they pushed off. "Wait! Sitka WAIT!" Kenai yelled as the started to get towards the middle, his brother waded to the middle, and threw the spear he carried at his brother. "Here! I fixed it! I hope it's right!"  
  
Stika grinned, and caught it by the handle. "It's perfect!" With that he paddled off to the East.  
  
Kenai joined Cueha, staring after his brother. But the young women's eyes weren't on the party, they were on the gathering clouds above. She had a very bad feeling about this. One that made her sick to her stomach.  
  
If only the party knew what they had in store for them. 


End file.
